Author Archives: Amanda J Taylor

Opinion: Floccinaucinihilipilification

By Amanda J Taylor | 1st October 2011 - 5:25 pm

“For most people, the only visible service that they get from the council is the removal of refuse” – Eric Pickles, Daily Mail, 30th September

Floccinaucinihilipilification – the action or habit of estimating something as worthless, Oxford English Dictionary

This may or not be the longest word in the English language, but today is a rare chance to use it. It sums up Eric Pickles after his eccentric comment today about council services .

The honourable people who empty our bins every week or every fortnight have hundreds of thousands of colleagues working alongside them in their councils: 1.7 million according to the LGA – …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged eric pickles | 8 Comments

Opinion: Time for Lib Dem members to unite against UNITE’s Labour propaganda

By Amanda J Taylor | 16th March 2010 - 1:45 pm

The Guardian reported last Friday that the uber-union UNITE is to get its members canvassing one another on behalf of the Labour Party.

In spite of justified criticism of the Government throughout the parliamentary cycle, UNITE always comes out for Labour when an election’s nigh – it never learns! Its members’ publication (paid for out of the political levy, or not?) is full of pro-Labour propaganda.

I believe it behoves a trade union to campaign for policies that would help its members, not nail its colours to the mast of just one political party, regardless of whether …